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Problems in Enterprise Integration:

Schematic Heterogeneities between
Semantically similar objects

Based On:
A. Sheth and V. Kashyap, So Far (Schematically) yet So Near (Semantically),
Invited paper in Proceedings of the IFIP TC2/WG2.6 Conference on Semantics
of Interoperable Database Systems, DS-5, November 1992

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Schematic Heterogeneities

Domain Definition
Incompatibility

Entity Definition
Incompatibility

Schematic Data Value

Heterogeneity Incompatibility

Abstraction Level
Incompatibility

Schematic
Discrepancy
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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Naming Homonyms
Conflicts

Data Representation
Conflicts
Synonyms

Domain Data Scaling

Incompatibility Conflicts

Data Precision
Conflicts

Default Value
Conflicts

Attribute Integrity
Constraint Conflicts

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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Naming Conflicts
• Semantically alike attributes may have different names and are called
synonyms
STUDENT(Id#, Name, Address) in database DB1
GRADUATE(SS#, Name, Address) in database DB2
STUDENT.Id# and GRADUATE.SS# are synonyms
• Semantically unrelated attributes may have the same names and are
called homonyms
STUDENT(Id#, Name, Address) in database DB1
BOOK(Id#,Title, Author) in database DB2
STUDENT.Id# and BOOK.Id# are homonyms

Solution:
Synonyms can be renamed to the same concept.
Homonyms can be renamed to different concepts.
The associations are kept in a catalog
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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Data Representation Conflicts

Semantically alike attributes may have different data types or
representations.
STUDENT(Id#, Name, Address) in database DB1
GRADUATE(SS#, Name, Address) in database DB2
STUDENT.Id# is defined as INTEGER
GRADUATE.SS# is defined as Char(9)
Solution: The type of SS# is coerced to be an integer. A virtual class
U_STUDENT is defined as follows:

CREATE VCLASS U_STUDENT

(Id: INTEGER, Name: Char(20), Address: Char(50))
AS SELECT Id#, Name, Address
FROM DB1.STUDENT,
SELECT SS# AS INTEGER, Name, Address
FROM DB2.GRADUATE

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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Data Scaling Conflicts

Semantically alike attributes represented using different units and
measures

EMPLOYEE(Name, SS#, Salary) in database DB1

Salary is stored using British pounds
EMPLOYEE(Name,SS#,Salary) in database DB2
Salary is stored using US dollars

Solution: Use of appropriate conversion expressions. Assuming 1 British

pound = 1.6 US dollars. A virtual class U_EMPLOYEE is defined:

CREATE U_EMPLOYEE
(Name: char(20), SS#: INTEGER, Salary: REAL)
AS SELECT Name, SS#, 1.6*Salary
FROM DB1.EMPLOYEE,
SELECT Name, SS#, Salary
FROM DB2.EMPLOYEE
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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Data Precision Conflicts

Semantically alike attributes represented using different precisions.
Lower Upper Grade STUDENT(Name,SS#,Marks) in database DB1
81 100 A STUDENT(Name,SS#,Grade) in database DB2
61 80 B Grade is represented at a coarser level of precision when
41 60 C compared to Marks
21 40 D => Need to Map Marks to Grade represented in the Table
0 20 F

Solution: Let the table MAP(Lower,Upper,Grade) be defined in DB1

A Virtual Class U_STUDENT can be defined:

CREATE VCLASS U_STUDENT

(Name: Char(20), SS#: INTEGER, Grade: CHAR(1))
AS SELECT Name, SS#, MAP.Grade
FROM DB1.STUDENT, MAP
WHERE Marks <= MAP.Upper and Marks >= MAP.Lower
SELECT Name, SS#, Grade
FROM DB2.STUDENT

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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Default Value Conflicts

Semantically alike attributes may have different default values in different
databases.

EMPLOYEE(Name,SS#,Salary,Bonus) in database DB1

where default(Bonus) = 10%
EMPLOYEE(Name,SS#,Salary,Bonus) in database DB2
where default(Bonus) = 30%

Solution: Default value for attribute of virtual class is used.

Update of attribute value not propagated to databases.

Suppose default(Bonus) for VCLASS U_EMPLOYEE is 20%

Query retrieving values for bonus attribute will return a value
corresponding to 20%

However, update of Bonus value will not be propagated to DB1 or DB2

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Domain definition Incompatibilities

Attribute Intergrity Constraint Conflicts

Semantically alike attributes might be restricted by constraints that are not
consistent with each other. Consider the attribute Age in the databases
DB1 and DB2:

C1: Age < 18 defined in database DB1

C2: Age > 21 defined in database DB2

C1 and C2 defined on attribute Age are inconsistent

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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Database
Identifier Conflicts

Homonyms
Naming
Conflicts

Entity Definition
Incompatibility Union Compatibility Synonyms
Conflicts

Schema Isomorphism
Conflicts

Missing Data
Item Conflicts
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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Database Identifier Conflicts

• Entity descriptions use identifier records that are semantically different
• Also known as the key equivalence problem

STUDENT(SS#, Course, Grades) in database DB1

STUDENT(Name, Course, Grades) in database DB2

SS# in DB1and Name in DB2 are semantically different identifiers

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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Naming Conflicts
• Semantically alike entities may have different names and are called
synonyms
EMPLOYEE(SS#, Name, Address) in database DB1
WORKER(SS#, Name, Address) in database DB2
EMPLOYEE and WORKER are synonyms
• Semantically unrelated entities may have the same names and are called
homonyms
TICKET(Movie, Theater, Date, Timing) in database DB1
TICKET(Date, Offense, Officer, CourtDate) in database DB2
The entities TICKET in DB1 and DB2 are homonyms

Solution:
Synonyms can be renamed to the same concept.
Homonyms can be renamed to different concepts.
The associations are kept in a catalog
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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Union Compatibility Conflicts

Descriptors of semantically alike entities may not have equivalent
signatures.

STUDENT(SS#, Name, DateOfBirth) in database DB1

STUDENT(SS#, Name, Age) in database DB2

The attributes Age and DateOfBirth are not equivalent but can be made
equivalent after some transformations

CREATE VCLASS U_STUDENT

(SS#: INTEGER, Name: Char(20), Age: INTEGER)
AS SELECT SS#, Name, round(getdate()-DateofBirth)
FROM DB1.STUDENT,
SELECT SS#, Name, Age
FROM DB2.STUDENT

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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Missing Data Item Conflict

Descriptors of semantically alike entities may have different number of
attributes

PROFESSOR(Name, OffPhone, HomePhone) in database DB1

PROFESSOR(Name, Phone) in database DB2

The attribute Phone in DB2 can be assumed to have both the Office and
the Home Phone numbers

CREATE VCLASS U_PROFESSOR

(Name: Char(20), Phone: INTEGER)
AS SELECT Name, OffPhone
FROM DB1.PROFESSOR,
SELECT Name, HomePhone
FROM DB1.PROFESSOR,
SELECT Name, Phone
FROM DB2.PROFESSOR
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Entity definition Incompatibilities

Missing Data Item with Implicit Value

Descriptor of a similar entity may have a missing data item whose value
is implicit

STUDENT(SS#, Name, Address, Type) in database DB1

GRADUATE(SS#, Name, Address) in database DB2

STUDENT.Type can have the values “Grad” or “UnderGrad”

GRADUATE has a missing data item whose value is implicit, i.e.
GRADUATE.Type = “Grad”

CREATE VCLASS U_STUDENT

(SS#: INTEGER, Name: Char(20), Address: Char(50), Type: Char(9))
AS SELECT SS#, Name, Address, Type
FROM DB1.STUDENT,
SELECT SS#, Name, Address, Type
FROM DB2.GRADUATE
WHERE Type = “Grad”

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Data Value Incompatibilities

Incompatibilities due to different values for the same entity

Consider the entity SHIP(Id#,Name,Weight)

SHIP(123,USSEnterprise,100) in database DB1
SHIP(123,USSEnterprise,200) in database DB2
Known
Inconsistency

Data Value Temporal

Incompatibility Inconsistency

Acceptable
Inconsistency
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Data Value Incompatibilities

Known Inconsistency
When the source of Inconsistency is identified
Solution: Choose the more reliable database
In the previous example:
If DB2 is identified as the more reliable database
=> weight(USSEnterprise) = 200

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Data Value Incompatibilities

Temporal Inconsistency
• Inconsistency of a temporary nature.
• Specified by using a temporal consistency predicate.
In the previous example, the two weights may be considered temporarily
inconsistent with DB1 updating it’s value subject to the following
constraints:
• At a particular date and/or at a specific point in time:
AT 9:00 o’clock on 27th April 1995
• Before or after a specific instance of time or date:
BEFORE 8:00 a.m. on 27th April 1995
• During intervals of time and/or date:
INTERVAL(27th April 1995 AT 17:00 - 28th April 1995 AT 8:00)
• Periodically, when certain amount of time has elapsed:
Every Day AT 12:00
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Data Value Incompatibilities

Acceptable Inconsistency
Depending on the type of the query, the inconsistency between the values
from different databases might be within an acceptable range.

• Numerical Inconsistency:
QUERY: Find the Tax Bracket of an Employee
INCONSISTENCY: If abs(Salary1 - Salary2) < 0.99
The inconsistency is ignored
• Non-numerical Inconsistency:
QUERY: Find the State of residence of an Employee
INCONSISTENCY: If Residence1 IN State1 and Residence2 IN State2
and State1 = State2
The inconsistency is ignored

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Abstraction Level Incompatibilities

Generalization
Conflicts

Abstraction Level
Incompatibility

Aggregation
Conflicts
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Abstraction Level Incompatibilities

Generalization Conflicts
When the same entity is represented at different levels of generalization

STUDENT(SS#, Name, Major) in database DB1

GRAD-STUDENT(SS#, Name, Major, Advisor) in database DB2

A Virtual Class U_STUDENT is defined as follows:

CREATE VCLASS U_STUDENT

(SS#: INTEGER, Name: Char(20), Major: Char(20), Advisor: Char(20))
AS SELECT SS#, Name, Major, NA
FROM DB1.STUDENT
WHERE SS# NOT IN (SELECT SS#
FROM DB2.GRAD-STUDENT),
SELECT SS#, Name, Major, Advisor
FROM DB2.GRAD-STUDENT

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Abstraction Level Incompatibilities

Aggregation Conflicts
When an entity in one database corresponds to a set of entities (or any
other aggregation) in another

CONVOY(Id#, AvgWeight) in database DB1

SHIP(Id#, InConvoy,Weight)in database DB2

A Virtual Class U_CONVOY is defined as follows:

CREATE VCLASS U_CONVOY

(Id#: INTEGER,AvgWeight: REAL)
AS SELECT DB2.CONVOY.Id#, AvgWeight, ShipSet
FROM DB1.CONVOY
WHERE Exists (SELECT AvgWeight = avg(Weight)
FROM DB2.SHIP
WHERE SHIP.InConvoy = CONVOY.Id#)
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Schematic Discrepancies

Data Value
Attribute Conflict

Schematic Attribute Entity

Discrepancies Conflict

Data Value
Entity Conflict

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Schematic Discrepancies

Data Value Attribute Conflict

When attributes in one database corresponds to the value of the
attributes in another

Database DB1:
relation STOCKS(Date, StkCode, ClsPrice)

Database DB2:
relation STOCKS(Date, Stk1, Stk2, ...)

where Values(StkCode) = Stk1, Stk2, .....

and Values (Stk1, Stk2, ....) = (ClsPrice1, ClsPrice2, ....)
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Schematic Discrepancies

Attribute Entity Conflict

When attributes in one database corresponds to entities in another

Database DB2:
relation STOCKS(Date, Stk1, Stk2)

Database DB3:
relations Stk1(Date, ClsPrice),
Stk2(Date, ClsPrice)

CREATE VCLASS U_STOCKS

(Date: Char(7), StkCode: Char(4), ClsPrice: REAL)
AS SELECT Date, “Stk1”, Stk1
FROM STOCKS,
SELECT Date, “Stk2”, Stk2
FROM STOCKS,
SELECT Date, “Stk1”, ClsPrice
FROM Stk1,
SELECT Date, “Stk2”, ClsPrice
FROM Stk2

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Schematic Discrepancies

Data Value Entity Conflict

When entities in one database correspond to values of attributes in
another

Database DB1:
relation STOCKS(Date, StkCode, ClsPrice)
where values(StkCode) = Stk1, Stk2, ....

Database DB2:
relations Stk1(Date, ClsPrice)
Stk2(Date, ClsPrice) ......